Returning Robotic Innovation by ITK

HYPER JAPAN is pleased to welcome back pioneering Japanese company ITK to our summer event. Once again, ITK will be amazing visitors with their groundbreaking innovations, which it is hoped will improve the daily lives of many in the future.

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Primarily focused on developing healthcare and medical equipment, with the motto, “impossible is possible,” ITK works tirelessly to develop new designs, and adapt them for practical use. With a rapidly aging society in Japan, and young care workers heavily outnumbered by elderly dependants, the country is working against the clock to find solutions for people to retain their independence, and companies such as ITK really are vital for the well-being of future pensioners.

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This time around, ITK will be showcasing some of it’s best gadgets, and the latest developments to the ‘Handroid.’

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The “Handroid”

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The “Handroid” is a remotely-operable five-finger movable robot hand.It can be used in engineering environments which are inaccessible or dangerous to human hands. Most of the existing robot hands do not use all five fingers. Other Five-finger models usually have servomotors in each joint in the fingers, which makes the robot hand heavy, complicated and expensive. ITK developed the Handroid lightweight and cheap, restricting it to basic hand. However, the range of movement does not restrict the Handroid’s capabilities and it should be able to perform to the needs of its users. Therefore, ITK used their advances in metalworking techniques and applied metals used in aircraft parts, which made the Handroid lightweight, durable and has fluid motion. They have also developed a glove-type controller that remotely controls the Handroid by mimicking the operators hand movements.Furthermore, it is under development to be applied as a prosthetic hand, controllable by myoelectric, brain waves, and cerebral nerves.The Handroid will go beyond your expectations and will continue to be developed for further engineering and medical procedures.

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Shinsuke-san: Mechanical Walking Stick

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Japan has a rapidly aging society, caused by the post-war baby boomer generation moving into retirement and a simultaneous decline in the birth rate (it’s a phenomenon that we’ll hear more about in the UK as time goes on, since we’re heading the same way). This means that there is strong demand for items which can help to make life easier for older people, like this world-first mechanical walking stick, the height of which can be adjusted at the touch of a button, making it much easier to walk up and down stairs, and sit down and stand up. Developed jointly with the University of Electro-Communications (Tokyo), it is powered with rechargeable batteries, making it long-lasting and environmentally responsible, too. The Shinsuke-san has been a massive success in Japan, with overwhelming demand outstripping production capacity, showing that while Japan’s population might be aging, its elderly remain active and independent.

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Nukerun Desu: Mechanical Weeder

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This mechanical weeder uses a small mechanical driver to quickly and efficiently pull up weeds from the ground, which can then be released with the touch of a button. It can also be used as a mechanical screw driver by changing the head attachment.